The Ministry of Interior has said that the Medium Security Custodial Centres, Suleja, Niger State, was meant to house only 250 inmates instead of the 499 it held.
The ministry revealed this as Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, visited Suleja on Friday, after 118 inmates escaped the facility the previous Wednesday.
Ozoya Imohimi, the Director of Press and Public Relations of Tunji-Ojo’s ministry, relayed the minister’s words.
“This facility was built in 1914 to house 250 inmates. Before this incident, we had 499,” the ministry’s statement read in part.
“This is what we keep talking about – the overcrowding of our correctional centres.
“You can look at the environment; it shows that we need to relocate them away from the city centre before creating better space, security and infrastructure.
“Because of the force majeure, the storm that happened, there was a breach of the outer wall of this facility, and some of the inmates escaped. The manhunt is presently ongoing. We will do everything humanly possible to make sure everyone is brought back.
